Legacy Of The Planet
by Warriorsong
Summary: REVERSIONED. Prologue through to Chapter 2. Set 500 years after Final Fantasy VII. Aeir Strife embarks on a mission for the future of the Planet, tying up loose ends. Contains violence and coarse language.


LEGACY OF THE PLANET

**Legacy Of The Planet **

R E V E R S I O N E D

A Final Fantasy VII Fan Fiction

By Nicholas Clark (Warriorsong)

--

Prologue

Calling Out

--

Many, if not all had heard the stories. The legends of how Avalanche, the rebel group, overthrew the corrupt Shinra Corporation, destroying their stranglehold on the planet, releasing her so her song could be filled with life. Of how Aeris Gainsborough, a Cetra, or Ancient, the last of her race allowed herself to be sacrificed so as to take the Final Prayer, Holy, to the Lifestream. And of how the Planet, in an attempt to save itself from an age-old evil, released the Weapons. Of how one person, a group of individuals can change the course of history for the betterment of all.

Most had heard them all, these tales. All the legends, some from different perspectives, told in different languages. How it affected different peoples.

But legends are simply that; stories passed down that are no more a truth but a fable to delight and entertain. Wherein lies the pity. Mistakes are once again made, despite the warnings and achievements of those in the past who made such sacrifices to prevent them happening again.

Many listen but they don't hear.

I hear, and I know that the legends are true. I am proud to bear the name Strife.

--

The sky outside was matt dark, speckles of stars burning unnoticed by most of the people below. The wind, slight and gentle bushed through the window and danced through the solitary naked flame on its waxen perch. The young man sat quietly at his desk. He was pouring over the notes and journals again, as he had been for days, the sparse candlelight barely illuminating the faded text. The thought, the memory had been nagging him, ever since his uncle had taken him to look at the dome. There he had heard the Planet's song for the first time. His Planet's song. Songs of joy and the glory of life.

Yet in memory he could hear something else, deeper, poignant and somber. He could sense a deep note of longing, waiting. Mourning. Loss.

And now in the middle of the tropical night, the horizons blue rather than midnight black, it had managed to overcome him as it first had some days ago. An urge to find and remedy. To allow himself some peace from his racing thoughts.

Historical data, from centuries ago, kept by his family, details of treaties, pacts and agreements. But they seemed hollow to him now, more a convenience than the long lasting promise that they had been cast as. These notes did little to belie the fears and murmurings that haunted his wakeful sleep.

He ran his right hand through his spiky grey hair. So young with hair so grey. A mark of wisdom they called it. A mark of burden, he called it. It marked him apart. Physically reminding him of the way he had always felt; alone and separate. Family he knew, friends he did not.

He was hungry. His athletic frame had been surviving on little sleep and less food. Food found upon waking, sleep snatched in the hours his body refused to continue on.

And from the time he had stood under the dome of the observatory at Cosmo Canyon, he had been driven by a subliminal dream, an urge he couldn't explain. One that burned upon waking and dulled to a winking ember as his mind closed down on reality. Always to return with the morning or the awakening.

Quietly, there came a tap at the door.

"Enter." Did he mumble that? He was unsure, lost in his own thoughts and fatigue.

The door creaked open gently and the soft padding of feet could be heard over the hissing and crackling of the swaying candle.

Silence continued for some time before the voice spoke, deep and rich.

"Aeir, your eyes will be damaged by such sparse light." A dignified voice commented, untouched by the years that weighed its shoulders.

A new warm light, crawled over Aeir shoulder, bringing into relief the inky scrawls on the yellowed parchment.

"Yes Uncle."

The boy, Aeir Strife, turned to face his uncle. Nanaki or Red XIII as he was often called, was a curious creature. A quadruped, yet with an intelligence so keen, it had pierced the stars and the mysteries beneath them. Nanaki resembled a lion; minus most of the mane, all that was there resembled a mohawk and a goatee beard. The once bright orange red fur was now speckled with the grey of age, the yellow fading. His tail, the tip of which was a tongue of orange flame, still burned as clear and strong as it had five hundred years ago when Aeir's ancestor had first met this creature, trapped and imprisoned. A creature, who would in time, become friend, brother and family protector.

"No, boy. Just that while your eyes may be young, mine are no longer."

Aeir half smiled at that. His uncle could easily see a mouse in tall grass a mile away if he tried. But his sight was more than just optical; it was one that could see into men's hearts if it was needed.

"Actually Uncle, I'm glad you're here. I wanted to talk to you about the Song."

"I expected as much," replied the lion-esque creature. "You are troubled?"

The boy's face dropped. Little could be gained in feigning ignorance to the fact he had become withdrawn over the last couple of weeks, seldom leaving his seat at the desk.

"Your face. It carries the weight of years and problems it should not. One does not have to be omniscient to notice you are not the boy you once were." The sentence whilst succinct left the balance unsaid.

"I worry."

"About the Planet." Nanaki merely stated it as irrefutable fact.

This quickened Aeir's heart. His Uncle somehow knew, which meant he wasn't alone. "How did you know?"

"You are never alone. You told me yourself young one, and she herself tells me. It is a gift, one might say. I have also watched it, since the beginning. My Grandfather speaks to me."

Aeir was about to interject but Nanaki stopped him.

"Bugenhagen, my Grandfather taught me to watch the Dance of the Heavens and listen to the Song of the Planet. I sense its' loss also, yet you seem to sense it more. I have watched, for five hundred long years, your line; from the first, brother and sister, Zack and Aeris Strife to you, Aeir, and the gift is strong within the blood you bear. You carry the hope that your forebears ignited and it is a heavy burden on one so young."

Many questions were raised in Aeir's mind within seconds, foremost references to a burden, and the slowly consuming fact that he felt he needed to do something, but it persisted to remain shrouded in his stupidity. Hence the reading and re-reading of books he now knew by heart.

"A connection, a tie to the Planet."

Aeir remained silent as his Uncle continued.

"During the Crisis, my old friend and your many grandfather Cloud Strife, was injured and he fell into the Lifestream. He nearly met his end. However the raw Mako energy infused him, which in time allowed him to defeat The Bringer. But this story you have heard. But you do not know that your many grandmothers Tifa Lockheart went into the Lifestream also. To save her love and to guide him out, eventually helping to teach him to remember himself, his real self, hidden amongst his fears and the demons inflicted by mad designs. He came out catatonic, broken, yet was able to find himself once more. And this event, the given Mako, and the fact it was given in free will by the Planet bears an obligation."

There was a slight pause before Nanaki continued. "And that has passed from him to his children, first the twins, then down through the centuries to you. His line was chosen."

"But what does this mean?" Aeir said quietly, afraid that reality was about to play a cruel joke at his expense.

"I believe only she will be able to tell you the answer to that."

"She." It was said simply but there was a deep reverence.

"Yes."

--

Nanaki quietly left the room, closing the door on a boy deep in thought. He knew the time would come eventually, yet had prayed it would be when the world was strong once more, not recovering from centuries of neglect and pain. And healing would take time, as even now, man forgot and returned to his ways of wanton disregard and callousness. The sacrifices made were not remembered any longer, merely becoming a bedtime story and a fable told to children.

Man had desire, desire to be, to succeed and take what he could.

Man could not just be and do what he must.

The old creature sighed as the night wrapped itself around him like a cloak, the Mideel skyline dark and pointy in the clear night. The wind called to him, asking him to dance across her grassy plains. To return to his home.

Yet he felt pain, the sting of being the betrayer. He knew what was to come, but his place was as watcher and guardian, no longer as the messenger.

--

It was simple enough for Aeir from there. It was only one simple word; She. But all the children who listened to the stories knew who she was. She had a few names, Savior, Bearer of the Prayer. But to him she was his namesake. The children forgot and the adults no longer believed, but it was a part of the world and what it had been. Therefore he had to pay a visit to her last resting place.

But what was the hardest part, the journey of knowledge. Children knew. Adults didn't care any more.

Since the Fall Of Mako, as it was called, the use of technology had slid back somewhat. Atomic fusion, nuclear power and esperic reactors were no longer considered viable. The Corel Treaty had forbidden the mining and extraction of Mako and as such all sources of non-conventional power were rendered obsolete. It had been decided, that as the Threat was only months past that all residual Mako and materia should be removed from use and returned to the Northern Crater. Years passed before the final orb was placed within and then, the centre of the northern continent was declared a no-mans land. Monster's still roamed the wastes close to the crater, but the diseased creatures spawned by Shinra throughout most of the planet died from a lack of sustained Mako radiation. A natural balance was re-established. Natural, non-magical sources of energy became common. Electricity, wind and geo-thermal pipelines provided, and most people lived a basic lifestyle outside the city-states, which in turn, consumed the majority of natural excess. And it actually suited.

With growing concern for the survival of humanity after Mako was removed (itself a crutch mankind had been resting on), they banded together to ensure their own survival. Wars and other such human problems had been minimal since the Fall, likely in all truth to the overhanging terror of the Threat. But with the lack of belief in the old stories, maybe people just had better things to do.

Yet in the last fifty years, by all historical accounts, things had come half circle, trends and patterns emerging that would once again lead to war and pain. Border clashes between the state forces of Corel and Costa Del Sol, mysterious disappearances in Wutei and consistent climate change throughout the continental masses.

Flying was stringently controlled; air travel restricted by the larger city-states and usually reserved for the wealthy. Sailing was out, as trade routes were constantly patrolled and guarded for the most by the port city authorities.

Wealth had once again become a tool for man's desires to grant him standing and power.

Yet the world on the majority was in no hurry and most people could pass easily between the settlements on foot, the remaining monsters dying in their dens and starving from lack of Mako and food.

Farming stood strong as did the re-established balance of man and nature.

The options were either to walk or to ride.

"Wark."

--

Chapter One

Namesake

--

Aeir stood quietly upon the precipice, the wind whipping his grey hair into his eyes. It had grown slightly in the time he had taken to get here. And now with the wind howling around him like a demon and the weathered stone beneath his feet; he felt the presence.

It had been in his head for months, since he had been to The Dome with his Uncle and again throughout the long nights in Mideel, haunted with the Planet's mournful song. And now, here, alone, in the Forgotten City of The Ancients, standing out in the gale, he could feel the presence that had been in his head, surrounding his mind like a warm cloak.

"I'm here," he said, directing his voice into the abyss before him. The archways surrounded him like empty eye sockets, blind after the ages they had seen pass.

The voice that replied seemed to bypass his ears and come directly to his soul, more of an emotion than a verbal conversation.

"I'm glad."

"What do you want?" Aeir raised his voice as the wind threatened to snatch it from him.

"That you would help me, help us."

"Why me, why not Uncle Nanaki?"

"Nanaki has played his part, it is time for the younger ones. Nanaki's time is past, you are the future, you must take up the journey."

"Yeah, but why me?" Aeir struggled to keep his composure. The voice was being oblique and he didn't like it. His blue eyes seemed to flash in the icy light.

"The blood runs true, even after all this time." The wind seemed to laugh.

"Y'know what, I came from all the way across the planet, and you hit me with riddles! Fine, listen, riddle the wind for all I care, but I'm gone." His eyes flared a magnificent azure.

Aeir turned from the abyss and stormed back into the corridor, its twisted length and thick stone muffling the screaming of the wind.

--

Aeir sat above his small fire, muttering curse words to himself. He had made to head back to the Bone Village when a storm had blown up, whipping the snow into his face, stinging and biting. When he had attempted to head back to the split-level house halfway to the City, he had fallen into a snow bank. Cursing and stumbling, half blinded by a wall of white and unable to go forward, Aeir turned down the only path left open.

And now in a house that looked more like a giant seashell, cracked and broken, Aeir sat above his fire, warming his hands, and cooking a rudimentary meal.

Outside the storm raged across the sky like an army charging into battle, the lightning their lances, the thunder the clattering of taloned feet.

He was angry.

--

Aeir sat up. This wasn't the seashell house. Hell, he had the sinking feeling he was somewhere totally separate and apart.

"Hello."

Aeir fumbled with his sleeping bag and tumbled over in a half crouch, landing tangled and reaching for a sword, a weapon of any kind, which wasn't there.

The voice giggled, lyrical and sweet, like honeysuckle.

Aeir wrenched his arm free and managed to free his head of its muffling covers. Standing above him was a girl, or more correctly, a woman. Her rich milk chocolate hair fell in bangs down the side of her face, with two thin braids accompanying them. A thick braid swayed down her back, ending by her waist. Deep green eyes peered out of a creamy complexion, piercing and illuminating at the same time. A pink body-hugging gown accentuated her curves and a steel bracer encircled each wrist.

Aeir knew this woman. He knew from the stories, the legends and from the fact that her eyes told him.

Aeris Gainsborough.

Aeir was now standing, his shoulders limp as he stared at the woman before him. The floating thing she was doing several inches from the ground made him nervous.

She pointed down.

Aeir found that he was doing the floaty thing as well.

"It's not what you think. Its solid, just take a step down," the apparition smiled benevolently at him as he looked panicked in every direction.

Aeir took a step down and feeling the ground beneath his feet, albeit transparent, began to straighten his black pants and his sleeveless grey t-shirt.

A small smile was on the woman's face as he looked back at her. She had stopped floating.

"So, ma'am, where are we?" Considering his anger earlier and the fact she now had him in some sort of ether, he decided that being polite was the best course of action.

"So formal?" Her smile widened, it was like the sun coming out. He got the impression she was reading his thoughts, the way she looked at him, deep and meaningful. "We are in your dreamscape, the world of your memories and dreams, hopes and fears."

"In my head. Hey, I know this story, this happened when... Oh."

"No need to fear Aeir. You are not dead, merely asleep. I came to met you here because I am not wholly of this world anymore."

"What, you mean like dead?"

"Blunt too." She seemed to be talking to herself. "Dead, but alive. It's complicated."

"Well standing here in the middle of a mental nowhere, I won't doubt you. It was you though, wasn't it, calling me and talking to me in the City."

"Yes," she said. Aeir knew there was something a little more behind it but really didn't want to examine it further. The starry black fog of his mindscape was starting to unsettle him as it swirled about.

"Then you also stopped me from leaving and brought me here. Why? Why all of it?"

"There is something we need you to do Aeir."

At her supposed mercy, he couldn't really argue.

--

Aeir awoke from sleep shivering, a cold sweat seeming to cling to his skin like frost. He had his answers and they were not what he had expected. Not that he had expected much. Aeir sat up and pulled his knees into his chest.

He wasn't in the seashell house anymore. Looking around he was in a stone gazebo, suspended above a large underground lake. Off to the side he saw four pedestals leading towards a bank and up a flight of stairs, into the darkness.

Reluctantly, Aeir collected his belongings and followed the path before him, up into the shadows, his bare feet slapping against the cold stone.

The sun shone in through the ragged shell of his resting-place, where he had originally fallen asleep. A tear crept down his cheek. So much pain she had shown him, so much loss.

--

Aeir walked into Bone Village, the snowstorm seemingly isolated on the plains surrounding the City; the Sleeping Forest only lightly dusted with powder as he walked its leafy green corridors.

Even now, Bone Village was just that, a village. A ramshackle collection of shanties and tents. After the Fall, as news of what happened spread, Bone Village became a religious place of sorts, almost a shrine to the planet itself. But the Forest was picky, letting people through only occasionally, now not so much asleep but merely dozing. That and the freak storms and gales that blasted the plains before the City like sledgehammers kept the weak-hearted away.

Only the most stalwart or those with some sort of mission ever made it and they always came back different, changed, like they had seen or experienced something. Aeir was one such individual.

He stopped out in front of the Inn that had managed to survive here. Aeir had no wish to enter, he just wanted to get his chocobo and get going, as the road ahead of him was likely to be long. He walked around the side and entered the stable. His white chocobo warked in pleasure to see him, shaking its head in happiness, a few feathers drifting off. Aeir scratched the top of its beak.

"Hey girl, how've they been treating you?"

The chocobo warked again in a noncommittal way and ruffled its feathers.

"That's good but you'll have to wait until we hit the mainland and a big city before I get you some greens."

The chocobo clucked contently as Aeir led her out of the stall. He placed some gold on the wooden gate. He had already paid but they had taken good care of her, so it wouldn't hurt. Besides he might be coming back. In fact, he would be.

Leading his white chocobo down the path and outside the village, Aeir swung his leg over her feathered neck and sat on her back.

"Okay girl, let's head to Midgar. I have some things to do."

The chocobo chirped at him in an indignant tone.

"All right then, We."

--

The Mideel Stables had been established long ago, a short time after the Fall. It bred a unique strain of chocobo, that being white. Often chicks were born with white plumage, which turned yellow when they reached maturity. The chocobo that had started the line had not, and thus, a new breed was born.

The Mideel White, as it was called, was similar to the gold type, able to cross much of the terrain, yet of a somewhat weaker strain. It was rumoured that the original chick had been exposed to high levels of Mako radiation whilst it was young.

Aeir knew this story to be true. It was rumoured that Mako could have a similar effect on human beings. In fact, Those Chosen, were a case in point, his own forebears Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockheart had survived for an additional hundred years after the Fall, seeing four generations born after their own.

It was also why Aeir could hear the Planet.

--

The coastline north of Midgar was a barren desolate place. Rocky crags burst from the earth like accusing fingers and the sea smashed against the gravelly beach like a blacksmith's hammer.

Aeir was perched behind his fire, a scowl on his face. The further from the Ancient City, the more ludicrous the idea was. Saving the Planet. He was just one guy, not even an adult yet, and some dead girl from five hundred years ago was talking to him. It didn't make much sense at all.

He had no weapon, no Gil and certainly no idea of what he was supposed to be doing. All he knew was he was supposed to be heading to Midgar, a city that had been abandoned for centuries and been reclaimed by the earth itself.

The grey thunderheads that obscured the northern sky sparked and the rain fell, eliminating any comfort Aeir hoped to etch from the night.

--

Nanaki sighed. He knew what was coming; he had spoken to her as well. It hurt him still after all this time, having witnessed her death at the hands of Sephiroth. Why had she decided now to speak, why didn't she talk to them after her passing, make it seem not so bad. Why hadn't she spoken to Cloud, eased his heart.

It was in the past, however. Nanaki sighed once more. He felt time walking behind his shoulder, a commodity he could less afford now. His age caught up with him at every step, yet he carried on, paving the way for future guardians like himself.

"Grandfather, grandfather!" the voice came to his ears, breaking him from his daydreaming.

"Yes, Kamakiel?"

"Why do we go to the dead city?"

"We go to meet my nephew."

"I have no cousin! Grandfather, you are silly."

Nanaki smiled at the small cub that ran, big pawed and seemingly disjointed beside him.

"He is a special nephew."

This seemed to pacify the cub as she ran off and began to play in the grass. Nanaki sighed once more, the burden on the litter behind him, seemingly heavy. Yet not quite as heavy as the one on his heart.

--

Aeir sat on the plain before the twisted metal monstrosity that had once been Midgar. The plates that divided the slums from the upper world had buckled and cracked, driving themselves into the ground. Damage from Diamond and from Meteor itself had never been fixed. While remnants of the old guard had tried to reclaim the city, they had always failed. Even Edge which had managed to eke out an existence, even after Sin-Bahamut, was long deserted and ruined. The city was abandoned but for the wind and ghosts.

Aeir could see the birds lifting off from their nests in the great jungle that had engulfed the city. His chocobo was eating some grass and he himself felt content. The nagging feeling he experienced in the dark hours dispersed in the sunlight and he was happy.

Why, he didn't really know but his lightened mood made the sun seem brighter.

A low, cry, mournful, yet filled with the promise of tomorrow echoed across the sky, startling birds from their roasts and getting a confused wark from his chocobo.

Aeir laughed. He knew that voice. The reason why he was here now became clear.

He stood, brushing the clover and blades of grass from his pants and running a hand through his hair. He began to walk towards a nearby bluff, whistling for his chocobo to follow.

--

Aeir stood at the base of the bluff, his chocobo milling off in the midground, investigating some sort of whatever that had taken its fancy.

Aeir turned and smiled, "Hello Uncle."

Nanaki returned the smile. "Hello Nephew."

Aeir was glad to see his uncle, a creature he respected above most everyone he knew. A small red furred head peered from behind Nanaki.

"Hello little one," said Aeir.

The head slipped back behind Nanaki, who chuckled. "Come out grand-daughter, he does not bite."

"But he's a people grandfather!" Aeir heard a soft voice saying.

Nanaki turned to Aeir, a half grin on his face. "Forgive my grand-daughter nephew, she is young and has not left the Canyon often."

"How old is she?"

"Thirteen summers, still a cub"

"Am not!" the voice growled, stepping from behind Nanaki and glaring at Aeir who folded his legs to sit cross legged in the grass. The cub was an orange dusty colour, minus a mane like her grandfather but with slightly longer red hair running from the top of her head to between her shoulderblades. Two long plaits fell down either side of her neck, a thick blue piece of cord in each. Her paws seemed overly large and were an orange yellow as the fur faded in colour as it went down her legs. A flame flickered on the end of her tail.

"Hello again," Aeir said, hiding his amusement.

"Hello big one," the cub said, obviously confused about how to proceed in this situation.

"My name is Aeir," Aeir continued hoping to start at least some kind of conversation. He had never met Nanaki's children or their children and it intrigued him.

"My name is Kamakiel."

"Pleased to meet you Kamakiel."

The cub seemed to blush and hid behind her grandfather once more.

Aeir smiled and turned back to Nanaki who had been silent throughout the exchange. He rolled his eyes at Aeir and then, lay down on the lush grass. True to his established form, despite his reclined position, he got right into the specifics.

"I have brought some things from the Canyon, as requested by our mutual friend and I wish to give them to you." Nanaki, tilted his head and looked at Aeir sidelong

"Oh," Aeir couldn't see anything but then again; Nanaki could often be cryptic. Maybe he meant knowledge of some kind.

"Do not worry nephew, she comes to me in my dreams also. Do not be wary, the quest you are to partake in is vital. Too long have the pieces been missing and their mother misses them."

"I still do not understand the whole thing Uncle, all I got was feelings, emotions and flash's of events."

"Aeris is one with the Planet, the last of her kind and she sees what our mother wants. Wounds were healed yet something's remain apart. Now it is time for them to be returned."

"And I have to do this?"

"You will not be alone, Kamakiel will be with you as will my hopes and prayers."

Kamakiel perked up at this, her head appeared from behind her grandfathers back, her paws resting on his stomach as he lay in the grass across from Aeir.

"Is this like the dream's grandfather? And the flower lady?"

"Yes child." Nanaki directed to his granddaughter, and turning once more to Aeir, "My grand-daughter also hears the cries, as do others. Over time more will join you and help you. A change is coming."

"I'm not particularly fond of change, Uncle."

"So like your grandfather, unwilling to accept something if he could not understand it, and then doing what had to be done anyway." Nanaki had a wistful look in his eye.

"Am I that transparent?" Aeir asked, hanging his head.

"No nephew, merely who you are. Come, time spreads her arms before us."

Nanaki rose and began to walk off into the distance. Kamakiel followed her grandfather, stumbling over her large paws on the way. Aeir smiled and whistled. His chocobo nudged at his side.

"Follow me bird," he said over his shoulder.

The chocobo nudged him again, seemingly irritated but followed anyway.

Nanaki and Kamakiel had stopped near a depression; the cub was rolling round in the grass laughing and setting off small fires. Nanaki sighed as he patted them out with his paws.

"Girl, behave!" he barked, probably more intent than he meant. The cub looked startled but sat quietly. Before Nanaki lay a litter, with a canvas cloth covering it. Aeir looked down at it as he strode over to them, his chocobo again in the background, seemingly cautious of the lion creatures.

Nanaki stepped back and placed a paw on the top of the bundle. "Here is something I kept for an occasion similar to this. Use them wisely."

His claws protruded from his paw, piercing the canvas, which he ripped away. On the litter lay two objects, the smaller on top of the larger.

The smaller object was a fighting glove, which had a large steel heart on the back of the fist, its triangular end terminating just over the middle knuckle. The beautiful weapon continued up the arm to a steel elbow piece with small studs on it. The steel had a blue tinge to it and seemed to contain the reflected sky. The leather and bindings were as black as a starless midnight, yet were unfaded and looked as strong as the most expensive chainmail. On the outside of the forearm ran a strip of the blue metal, with four holes on either side of a ridge piece that seemed to be razor sharp. The holes looked about a centimetre across and half that deep.

The larger object was a massive buster sword, the blade coloured a deep silver that seemed to swirl with greens, pinks and purples. The handle was a matte black and looked like snakeskin, a large black pommel stone on one end. The other end of the handle ended with an ornate silver filigree that looked delicate but was obviously like the blade itself, indestructible. Along the centre of the blade on the thin flat piece were four holes similar to the ones on the glove. Most likely, the other side was identical.

Aeir kneeled down before them, his jaw open. He had seen some beautiful craftsmanship in his life, but these... These were like beyond.

Nanaki spoke his voice solemn and commanding, "Aeir Strife, before you lie the Premium Heart and the Ultima, the weapons of Tifa Lockheart and Cloud Strife. They are now yours."

Aeir looked at his uncle, his face not even hiding his eagerness to touch these fine weapons.

Nanaki grinned, his pride showing in his smile, "You are as worthy of these as your forebears, nephew. Take them."

Aeir reached down and took the Premium Heart gently in his hand. He felt like it would disperse with the next strong breeze. Breathing slowly, Aeir slipped it onto his right hand and up to his elbow. Fastening the pieces and buckled he grinned wide.

"Grandfather, if he does that will his head fall off?" a curious voice asked, looking at them sidelong.

Nanaki and Aeir looked at each other and burst into laughter, Kamakiel taking offence at this, raised her nose in the air and turned her back to them.

--

"It fits, perfectly, hell, like a glove even." Aeir grinned, flexing his arm and the hand that were contained within the Premium Heart.

"That is only one thing that makes the glove special. Take up your sword."

Aeir mulled over the word 'your'. The Ultima was his now wasn't it? But it was huge. The blade was massive, a foot across at least and at least five feet long.

"Uncle, there is no way I could lift that monster."

"Try."

Aeir bent down, his right hand clasping the hilt and lifting the sword into the air. Aeir held it above his head. It was heavy, but no more so than a normal broadsword. He turned the blade side on and rested the flat against his upper arm.

"Why is it so light?"

"Two reasons I can think off, one being the fact you are a Mako child, the other being the sword recognizes its line and thus is making itself lighter for you."

"Making itself lighter?"

"You should recognize the name. The blade was found in the remains of the Ultimate Weapon."

"One of the Threats?"

"Correct, Cloud destroyed the beast as it came near to Cosmo Canyon and found the sword in its carcass. A gift from the planet mayhaps."

Aeir placed the sword on the ground and sat down again. "Why give these to me? Why now?"

"Because of the path that lies ahead. Kamakiel come here."

Kamakiel had turned around to watch Aeir pick up his sword. She was impressed but was still stung that they had laughed at her. "Yes Grandfather"

"Come to me child"

Kamakiel came closer, curious. Nanaki bent down and with one paw, snapped off his comb and laid it before the cub.

"For you, granddaughter"

Tears welled in the cub's eyes. She knew what this comb meant to her grandfather, having come from his own. "I cannot take this grandfather."

Nanaki smiled, "Bugenhagen would have wanted me to pass it on and you will need its help in the days to come."

The comb was ornate silver with beautiful etchings along the spine, below which sat the seemingly mandatory, one-centimetre wide holes.

Kamakiel picked it up in one paw and slotted it on the back of her head.

"It feels funny grandfather."

"You will get used to it child."

Nanaki looked at them both in silence for some time. Finally he spoke. "Are you ready children? Do you know what you need to do?"

"I'm ready," replied Aeir, "although all I know is that I have to get something, not exactly what."

Kamakiel just sat there looking confused. She was shaking however, whether with anticipation or apprehension, Aeir couldn't tell.

"I know it sounds clichéd, Aeir, but you will know when its time." Aeir rolled his eyes at this and Nanaki grinned. "But, the materia is at the top of the tower that you can see from here."

Aeir turned to see the imposing monolith that stood in the center of the forested city. The old Shinra tower.

"You need the weapons you now have due to the effect the materia has had upon the local flora and fauna. Due to the fact that materia is almost non-existent, monsters are therefore rare. However due to the nature of Midgar and the radioactive degradation of the material left in the reactor cores, there may be some creatures that are not entirely friendly."

"You mean they might want to eat us?" Asked the young cub, total innocence in her voice. Aeir just blanched.

"That is a worst case scenario child, do not worry about it." Nanaki was hiding something that the cub missed, although Aeir picked up on it.

Nanaki looked like he wanted to say more but his glance didn't leave the cub for long. Aeir took the initiative and turned to the cub. "Kamakiel could you please go and find out where my chocobo went and bring her over here?"

"Okay!" the cub exclaimed, bounding off towards the chocobo through the grass.

They both watched her go.

"Thank you Aeir. I would not send her with you were it not for the fact she has the dreams also. It is her destiny, yet I fear that she is too young. Would, you, I..."

Aeir could see the pain his uncle felt and did the only thing he could do "I will look after her uncle, you have my word."

"I believe you, boy" Nanaki smiled at Aeir. "I will leave now so as not to upset her. There are supplies on the litter. May the planet be with you, as am I."

And without another word, the aging beast leapt off across the veldt with a speed that belied his age.

"Goodbye Uncle and thank you."

--

Understandably, Kamakiel was upset but the prospect of adventure seemed to dull the edge of it. Aeir had tethered his chocobo to a piece of wreckage that had been thrown from the city centuries before and now he and the cub drew closer to the shadows that marked where one of the plates had collapsed into the earth. A massive cavern yawned before them, leading into the tunnels and byways below the city formerly known as Midgar.

Aeir tightened his pack and the large sword that rested on it. He also tightened the straps on his glove. Taking a few deep breaths, he looked at the cub, who was curiously looking at the entrance.

"You ready Kamakiel?" he asked.

The cub growled in her throat "Yep!"

"Right stay by my side and keep that tail of your's up high."

The pair slowly but surely walked towards the inky maw and disappeared.

--

Aeir sat heavily on the pile of rubble. They had been moving through this area of the slums for some hours, twisting through the caverns made by the collapsed brownstones and industrial complexes. It was starting to wear on his nerves. To hold the plates up, the main supports would have to be on the outside edges, the center and any equidistant points. So far they had found three supports that disappeared into the blackness above, yet none had access to the heights, stairway or otherwise.

It was beginning to annoy him. Plus the noises had increased, the skittering and unnerving cries from the dark. They had doubled back on themselves and altered their course a few times because Kamakiel didn't like the smell. Aeir wasn't going to argue. From what he had managed to smell himself he was amazed the cub wasn't sick to her stomach, considering the acuity of her senses.

He unslung his pack and pulled out a water bottle. Downing half, he handed the bottle to the cub. She took the top in her mouth and tilted her head back, the contents gurgling down her throat. She shook the bottle from her mouth.

The dark was warm, almost stifling. It was not a pitch dark, it was a browny dark, sick looking.

Aeir shuddered. This was unnerving and unnatural, the sooner they got to the top of a plate, the better.

Kamakiel growled, her hackles raising.

Aeir was alert now, slinging his pack back on and jumping from the rock pile to stand in a half crouch beside the cub.

"What? What can you sense?"

"It's not nice, it's big and smelly."

Almost like punctuation, the sentence was finished and any silence shattered by a gurgling roar that echoed between the buildings and above in the darkness. A fluttering of bats was heard as the sound disturbed their sleep.

Aeir looked down at the cub. "I think we should head in whatever direction that thing isn't coming from."

The cub nodded and they both took off at a trot, headed deeper into the caverns.

--

Aeir cursed. He felt like this situation was way out of his control, that he was being played. Which wasn't much of a change, he felt like that almost since he started north to the Forgotten Capital. Now he and the cub had been almost forced down a series of streets.

Smells, rubble piles and noises had keep them from turns they would have preferred to take and now, like a couple of times in the last hour, whatever monstrosity as following them roared again.

He was scared, the cub was scared and now it looked as if they were trapped. All in all, Aeir wasn't too keen on this situation.

And now he and the cub were at a four-way intersection. Behind was the roaring whatever it was, to the left was a smell the cub balked at and to the right was the noise of claws against stone.

What small light came from the cub's tail showed that the northern path thinned out, most likely a cave in.

And the roaring was getting closer.

Hiding in a building was out. They would be trapped and these structures had been home to generations of rats and who knew what else.

Aeir was tired. Kamakiel's tail was drooping and whatever was pursuing them was not letting up any.

Aeir knelt down next to the cub. She was shaking. He put his arm on her shoulder and scratched her ear. "We'll be fine."

He was unsure whether to take her silence as agreement or not.

Looking around, Aeir spotted a low boarded up window. A flash of inspiration struck him and he sprang across to the building. Muttering a slight prayer under his breath, he sent his fist through the half rotted boards and pulled them away, some half dozen longish shards filling his arms as he made is way back towards the cub.

Kamakiel looked at him with doubt in her eyes. "What are those for?" her curiosity seeming to return.

"I'm gonna see if we can light these and buy us some time," he looked at her tail, "is it alright if I borrow that?"

Kamakiel grinned and closed her eyes in concentration. Her tail flared brighter, hurting Aeir's eyes. Shielding them he held two fragments into the fire, hoping they would light.

Reluctantly, begrudgingly and with a fair amount of smoke the wood caught, thick smoke curling into the darkness above. He trotted to the centre of the left way, and planted the brand into the dirt, between a crack in the cement roadway. Again he moved to the right and followed suit.

Returning to Kamakiel, Aeir grabbed two more brands and moved to the left, lighting them both off the older torch. He placed one at the north opening, struggling with the hard packed dirt.

"Aeir!" He heard the cub squeal followed by a bloodcurdling roar.

Slowly Aeir turned, his heart slamming against his ribcage.

"..." His words dying on his lips.

Out of the darkness into the dim edges of the light from Kamakiel's tail and the torches came something. Something that seemed the amalgamation of a thousand nightmares. A massive jaw, rowed with needle like teeth, was followed by a pair of black lidless eyes on either side of a nose that was merely holes in its flesh. The shoulders were like rolls of fat, dispersing into arms that were almost skeletal with long nasty looking claws, which we placed upon the ground as the creature looked at them. Its skin was a greeny hue with black markings.

Aeir finally managed to vocalize. "Holy fuck, it's hideous."

Kamakiel shakily replied "I have to agree."

Almost like it didn't like the comment, the beast stepped forward, thick muscles legs with three toes on each appearing, a massive tail flicking in and out of sight as it swished.

Aeir stepped forward, the brand held before him like a weapon. The beast moved its head, turning it to the side. It roared again, yet Aeir stepped forward again. The monster took a step back, gurgling in its throat.

Aeir grinned, lodged the brand in the dirt and stepped back until he was beside Kamakiel.

"His eyes are light sensitive, they can't close so the fire hurts him."

Quickly Aeir lit the remaining brands from the cub's tail and held one in each hand, standing before the cub, her head peeking from behind his left thigh. The monster was swinging its arms wildly, trying to hit the flame away. The wind was causing the flame to dance wildly.

"Oh no," said Aeir pitching one of the brands at the beast. It struck its arm, causing the monster to take a step back and screech in pain.

"We have to get out of here!"

"I'm not arguing, but we seem to be hemmed in."

The monster was back in the shadows now, its large claws and forearms the only visible parts of its body in the dim half light.

The skittering to the right was starting to creep its way into Aeir's attention and glancing quickly he could see many red glints in the shadows.

Aeir looked over his shoulder at Kamakiel.

"Left?" he asked.

"Left," she replied.

Aeir hurled the brand at the reptile monster and both he and the cub took off into the left-hand turn at a run.

--

They had been running for five or so minutes and the skittering of the rats had followed. Both Aeir and Kamakiel were tired; the walking and the adrenaline from the near encounter had worn on them both. Now, trapped in a dark underworld, it was simply a matter of time before they were either surrounded, or too exhausted to defend themselves.

Kamakiel had slowed down; Aeir was still pumping his legs. The cub stopped her ears high on her head.

"Wait!"

Aeir stopped his feet under him, skidding over and landing on his rump. He stood slowly and hands on his knees, breathed raggedly.

"Yeah?" he asked.

The roar that answered him was far too close for comfort and came from in front of him.

"Oh, crap!" he exclaimed as he could see the movement in the darkness.

Kamakiel was standing alert some twenty feet behind him near a corner, almost indistinguishable from the innumerable other corners they had passed.

Aeir slowly stepped back towards the cub, his hand reaching over his shoulder to grab the hilt of Ultima.

"Okay," he quipped, "now's the time my life should start flashing before my eyes."

Instead the monster came closer.

"Or not," replied the cub.

"That, Kamakiel, is not helping"

Aeir facing the monster, Kamakiel facing towards the rats, they waited.

--

Chapter Two

Under The Plate

--

Aeir stood, his blade out before him and Kamakiel behind him, facing the other direction. The situation wasn't really a nice one.

"Tall dark and gruesome over here looks to be getting anxious," he said over his shoulder, directing it at the beast behind him.

"It's not really a party here either."

They had journeyed into the depths of Midgar under the collapsed plate, driven by dreams and a legend from the time of Kamakiel's grandfather. They had been wandering around in the dark led by Kamakiel's nose and herded by the sounds and smells of this festering underdark.

Aeir tightened his grip on Ultima. Little over a month ago, these dreams were merely a shadow in his nights, now they were a reality in this darkness.

"Okay, we have Mr. Ooogly here, a disease ridden plague over there and only the opening to my right to take off down. You a betting person, Kamakiel."

"I think running would be a good idea."

"I have no arguments with your logic." Aeir said as they both turned and headed deeper into the ruins.

They had ran from these creatures twice now, and they could hear the pursuit behind, the reptilian monstrosity screaming in rage and the wet smack of the bodies of rats exploding against the building that formed the walls of these tunnels.

Kamakiel's nose led them on, turning corners and down alleys, Aeir struggling to hold the massive buster sword aloft and not drop it.

Suddenly, Kamakiel screamed a chunk of the supporting wall crumbling as the massive reptile beast crashed through it landing between them. Unthinking Aeir swung his sword, the creature blocking it with a gigantic claw. The ring of organic steel on bone echoed eerily down the corridors.

The monster directed a backhand at Aeir, catching him in the chest and throwing him across the street and into the far wall. Kamakiel lunged at the monster, speeding between its bandy legs, quick swipes of her claws ripping gouges in its dark flesh. It screamed and directed a swing at her back, rearing back and falling over as its bony hand ran across the flame on her tail.

She ran to Aeir who was struggling to stand upright. He shook his head and looked at the beast, which had retreated from the light into the more visible shadows.

"That hurt," Aeir coughed, blood flecking his lips.

Kamakiel whimpered and sniffed, tears rolling down her red furred face. She raised her head and sniffed again.

"How much further can you run?"

"Not far, "Aeir coughed, finally standing on his own, "Why?"

"I smell air. Green air, with the scent of leaves."

"That means there is a way up nearby. Look out!"

In time with his cry he dived to the side, taking the beast with him as he rolled sideways, the paw of the reptile shattering through the brickwork, its claws leaving deep grooves in the ancient stone.

Rolling to his feet, the small body of the lion beast under one arm, Aeir dropped her to her paws and swung a wide blow at shoulder height. It knifed along the arm of the creature, biting deep before it caught and jarred on the monsters wrist, nearly tugging the sword from Aeir's grasp.

Yanking the sword away, the creatures black blood spurted out steam coming from the stone where it landed.

The creature tugged its arm, struggling to pull it from the masonry.

Aeir turned and socketed the sword in its shoulder sheathe.

"Let's go, little one."

The term of address snapped the cub from her stare.

"I'm not little!"

"How bout we argue the finer points of cross-species etiquette later, and get out of here."

The cub bounded down the street, taking the nearest corner. After a backwards glance at the monster, its fingers still in the wall, Aeir followed.

--

The street led directly to a chain link fence, rusted to dust centuries before. Beyond that lay a mental gantry from which a circular staircase rose in wide squares up a thick pillar of rock. Not stopping, the pair of adventurer's beelined straight up the stairs, the metal sounding harsh and frighteningly loud after the oppressive near silence of the tunnels.

Five minutes later, breathing ragged, they halted.

"Thank you," the cub said her voice quiet and broken by her gasps.

"What for?" Aeir asked, trying to regain his breath.

"Saving me from the monster."

"Hey, what are friends for. Shall we keep going?"

The cub nodded her tail flame dancing in the light as they began the assent again, this time at a walk.

--

The dull humming had been bothering the cub for some time before see turned to the man behind her.

"Do you hear that?"

"If it's a dull hum, I was about to ask you the same."

The cub bent down and placed her large cat like ear against the mental piping of the gantry railing.

The sound intensified as her ear neared it, the vibration ominous. She stood and turned back to Aeir.

"Something is on the stairs."

"Damn," Aeir cursed, tightening his pack and the sword on his shoulder, "looks like we run."

They both bounded up the stairs, praying that daylight was not far away.

--

Kamakiel turned as they caught their breaths some twenty minutes later.

"It's still coming and it's closer."

Aeir moved to the railing, gripping it tightly and moving his upper body out and over the edge to look down. Some four circuits below harsh red light could be seen glinting in the dark.

"Rats," he barked, disgust evident in his voice, "we gotta move."

Kamakiel feel to her stomach, tears falling.

"I'm too tired."

Aeir, while he wanted to argue, could only agree. He was exhausted, the steep ascent and wandering prior had taken it out of him, not to forget the fight with the creature. He was running on adrenaline and even that was starting to peter out.

"Then we stand here," he said, his voice harsh, as he unsheathed Ultima. All their work at getting this far, running, evading and now they had to face rats the size of wolves. It angered him that they had gone this far to fail. Even now he could hear the pattering of their scabrous feet against the metal.

Then rising, rising, like an inrushing tide, the rats broke around the corner and made the last few steps towards Aeir; Kamakiel panting, out of breath behind him.

And they swarmed piling over each other, forming a wall of furry bodies that bore down upon the pair, dwarfing them.

Swords and claws flashed as the pair met the onslaught head on, determination clear on their dirty faces.

Bites, fangs, toenails and beady red eyes filled Aeir's vision as he swung the weight of Ultima downward to meet the horde, its bulk biting through flesh and crushing bone. Hacking at the wall, panic rising in him like the bile in his stomach, his fear and anger solidified into a ball in his solar plexus.

And a rat bit his ankle.

The ball exploded within him, his body rising, rage inflaming him and the inverted cone of red light burst around him, pushing Kamakiel back and flinging the rats over the balcony and back onto their brethren.

His sword held before him in a classic guard position he raised it over his shoulder, the motes of red light flickering in the air before him. The blade seemed to glow, the foremost edge radiant, lit with an unearthly blue light. Slowly, almost ponderously slow, in the adrenalised world he inhabited, Aeir swung down, his sword biting deep into the metal at his feet while the light scythe flew towards the rats, cutting through them like wheat, blood and viscera raining down into the slums. The surviving rats ran, leaping around the stairwell as the metal split along the thin white line the scythe had made, burning through reality like a super nova.

Slowly, the red edges smoking slightly, the majority of the gantry level collapsed, tumbling end over end into the void below.

Aeir slumped to his knees, the sword held limply in his hands.

--

Whatever respite the attack had gained was lost as the pursuit continued. Driven by hunger, the starving denizens of the Midgar Slums followed them. The flow of opponents halted due to the missing platform, yet through tenacity, they came anew.

Aeir and Kamakiel were exhausted, stumbling, their feet leaden. Aeir was pushing whatever he had done to the sides of his mind. He had never felt such power, such rage inside him. Except once.

He didn't want to remember that.

Halting he sat quietly on the step before him, the cub on the step above.

He turned to Kamakiel with a mirthless smile

"Having fun yet."

She looked at him and rolled her eyes, her head following as it lolled to the side.

"Yeah me too," he answered his own question, his shoulders sagging.

They were aware of pursuit, yet at this point in time, they didn't care. Now, even minutes of respite would seem like a boon.

Kamakiel's tail thwiped, lightly beating against the stairwell. The rhythmic sound comforted Aeir, lulling him gently to sleep.

Seemingly immediately he felt the cub move, her head rising quickly and turning. The beat of her tail increased in tempo.

"What?" Aeir asked, trying to hide his annoyance at being woken. The cub didn't notice.

"The air flow is stronger. We are near the entrance to the plate surface."

Now, louder, over the beat of the cub's tail, they could hear the clicking of toenails on metal.

Aeir pulled himself to his feet using the railing, his mouth a hard line.

"Looks like its Round 2."

The cub seemed torn between the pursuit and the destination, her head flashing quickly from looking up the stairs and down.

Her tail flame, previously a small ember, similar to a candle flame, burst into light.

"I have an idea!" she exclaimed her youthful exuberance returning.

Kamakiel placed her large paw against the concrete structure of the support column. With a piercing noise, she distended her claws, them driving deep into the crumbing mortar that formed a sheathe around the main steel buttress within the column.

She turned to Aeir and grinned as she ripped her claws out, a large chunk of masonry collapsing from its place as she did so.

Aeir pulled his sword off his back and ushered the cub up the stairwell with the other. He took a few deep breaths and steadied his shoulders, rolling the muscles to ease the tension from them. He didn't know what had happened when he had been attacked by those rats and he didn't think he could pull it off again. On the plus side however, Ultima was one of the most powerful blades on the planet. Taking a last deep breath and summoning his strength into a single swing, Aeir pulled the blade out to the side and swung, the organic steel biting deep into the mortar.

As the creaking and groaning of tortured metal echoed throughout the void off to his side, Aeir pulled the sword from the pillar, the release almost overbalancing him. One more deep breath and a series of prayers later he was off up the stairwell, the cub just ahead of him.

--

For over five hundred years the massive pillars that held the Midgarian plates had stood. Untended and alone, isolated in the dark and home to the twisted monstrosities that lurked in the shadows.

Unmaintained, damp, and attacked, the residual Mako radiation from the reactors, degrading the surroundings. Dark plants, weeds of the night crept to life, sinking their tendrils into the stone.

And on top of it all, the crumbling pillars, like Atlas and the world, stood Midgar, ruined and pregnant with decay.

And like a single event, a pebble into a stream, there was a ripple, which caused waves to form, compromising the stalwart watch of the great pillar.

The pebble had been Aeir's strike.

--

The cub and the boy ran, whatever exhaustion they had felt had departed as the world they were in rocked and shook, gravity at an angle nowhere near their feet.

"I didn't even hit it that hard!" Aeir cursed as his sprinted up the stairs, his knees burning as they pumped like pistons. Before him the cub, the large feet striking with unrhythmical thwumps folded and stretch like an accordion as she ran.

"Obviously the structure had become like a house of cards" Kamakiel replied.

And like its namesake, one small imbalance in the structure would cause it all to fall.

Almost absent-mindedly Aeir noted how she had seemed to shake off the baby talk now that her grandfather had gone. His wandering mind was brought back as a loud crack sounded above him. Quickly Aeir dodged in his stride as a chunk of rock fell past him, nearly striking his shoulder. The rain of stones had begun almost as soon as he struck the pillar. The stairway below had fallen away, the screeching of metal and the cloud of dust had flown into the heights, disturbing the bats and whatever other creatures lurked up there, which flew, screaming their nightmarish cries into the billowing clouds.

Dodging and weaving, bats and boulders, the pair ran on. Panic rising like the dust.

--

In the distance from the hills one could see Midgar, a cancerous mushroom squatting on the plain. A great cloud of dust wafted from one side and the structure seemed to wobble.

--

She could see it, ahead of her, the doorway. She knew that it was locked. Not that a locked door would stop a meteor. And as they grew closer, the tumult grew and the creatures and beats around them lost themselves in a fury.

Panic was rising in her, a fear that maybe she would never see her mother again or her grandfather. Or that she would be trapped forever under the metal, unable to look at the stars that calmed her when she was haunted by dreams. Panic rose and her adrenaline screamed, trails of red light crackled over her body as she ran, unheeding, the young man behind her, straight into the barred door before her.

Then the darkness fell.

--

The sun crept gently, its rays caressing the land. Lancing through empty windows, creeping down streets, the light flowed, washing over the debris in its wake like a wave.

The wilderness had reclaimed the light side of Midgar, creepers and trees scaling the sides of buildings with rich grasses and bed of wildflowers adorning the slops and flat places. It was beauty, yet savage and untamed.

Pain. Numb and hollow. He opened his eyes, the needles of the sun's rays shooting across his vision. He closed his eyes and groaned. Uncomfortable, the sun not leaving him alone, his mind began to place together events, the past.

Aeir sat upright, and wished he hadn't. He felt beaten; his body could have been one big bruise. Slowly opening his eyes the sun to his back he could see a yawning hole before him, a twisted door, its hinges ripped and shredded hanging loose to one side.

He winced as the numb shock of pins and needles played along the arm that had been trapped beneath him in his collapse. He spread the fingers, curling them, wrist and elbow to get the blood flowing. He noted distractedly that he was filthy, dust, dirt and cobwebs clogging his skin. He placed his arm to the side balancing himself as he stretched. He moved the other arm out to the side also and felt the warm fur of his companion.

With that single contact he remembered all and turned quickly, oblivious to his own hurts and checked the cub for damage. She lay on her side, her legs out, paws curled into towards her stomach, her tail limp over the top of her body.

Her breathing was slow but regular. Aeir grimaced and pulled Ultima off his back. Placing it beside him, he lay back and let sleep claim him.

--

The warm pressure on his chest woke him. He slowly opened his eyes and looked into the smiling face before him.

"Hello!" chirruped Kamakiel as he moved her large paws off of Aeir's chest and sat beside him.

"Right," Aeir quipped. His body felt stiff and there was a knot in his shoulder that ached like fire. He sat up anyway.

"Are we going to eat soon?" The cub was back to her effervescent child-like self. Aeir wasn't sure whether that was a pro or a con in this situation.

His answer was vocalised by his stomach, a gurgling that rumbled up his oesophagus. He blanched at the noise and turned to the cub. "Eating is good."

"Could you open the pack please, I don't have thumbs."

"Why didn't you go catch something?"

Kamakiel gave the young man before her a withering look. Aeir just sat there staring at her.

That actually made sense that she hadn't. Chances were that the only wildlife left in the ruins of Midgar were tainted with Mako radiation. That or they tasted like shit.

Aeir groaned and fell backwards.

--

Midday, and the sun hung hot and pregnant over their heads. They had been walked through the cracked and uprooted streets from some time, searching for their destination. Climbing over building and skirting chasms that lead, dropping precariously, to the slums, was a time consuming and irritating process.

The vines and trees provided footholds and purchase and well as shade as they made their way through the alleyways and streets of this urban jungle. They had noticed it some time ago, a large spot in their horizon, blocking out all other visual cues, and slowly, block by block it had grown. While almost at ground zero of Meteor it remained one of the tallest structure left partially standing. The rest of it, a swath of damage most likely obscured by foliage and out of sight.

Its bulk loomed impressive still, some five hundred years later, a symbol for the destruction that had fallen over the world. Shinra Tower.

Now under its shadow the massive behemoth seemed poised to strike. Dark and menacing. The main doors lay shattered off their hinges, wild flowers creeping over the steel of the door fixtures, creating a tapestry of colour, a living mosaic. A large hump, a long hillock, could be seen stretching amidst the destruction off to their right, unseen, as guessed from the way they had journeyed.

Aeir slowly picked his way towards the colour coated opening. Pulling Ultima from his back, he swung at the creepers and tendrils. Giving way to his gardening prowess, the way was open to enter the main foyer.

The smell of water, stale and dirty, along with the rot of wood and other less favourable substances came out, causing the cub to cough. It passed as the young man peered into the darkness.

"Okay, there's no power so it looks like stairs."

Kamakiel looked skeptically at Aeir, a whimper barely heard.

"But it's up high!" she whined, referring to the direction they were being summoned in. Neither one could explain it, Aeris had spoken to them in half riddles and conundrums but now as they came nearer they knew where they had to be. It was the top floor, or rather what was now the top floor, considering the half a building that lay on the plate outside.

"Can you fly?"

"No," replied Kamakiel, not really understanding the relevance of the question.

"Okay then, so we walk."

Kamakiel started up slowly, her large feet softly flopping on the wide marble stairs that lead to the first floor in a wide sweeping arc.

Aeir took in the lobby, glancing at the stains on the wall where promotional material had rotted away, leaving a residue for the ages.

"I hate stairs," he muttered.

--

The flattened top of the building was blackened and burnt, melted inwards like a candle, the massive girders that had held the rest of the building aloft were bent and twisted like giant wicks. This however, went unnoticed.

The destruction would have seemed horrible if not for the abundance of fauna, the trees and plant cover twisting around so as to make it seem like they stood within a sea green globe. Dust particles danced through the sunlight as it pierced the leaf cover, beams of it, lancing through the dome and moving, swaying, as the leaves rippled in the wind.

The dark opening flickered, a small naked flame emerging from the stairwell, attached to the lion like creature and followed by a young man with grey hair. Both looked decidedly worse for wear, the beast had dust and cobwebs throughout her rich orange fur and the young man's pants were a dirty grey that matched his shirt and face.

"I still hate stairs," he commented to no one in particular. The cub was rolling on the rich grass, the green air making her seem like a spark in the ocean. Aeir was worried that maybe she would alight this grass like she had out on the plains but he could see the damp as it clung to her coat, beads of pearl-like moisture

The size overwhelmed him. The Shinra Tower had been a massive structure, truncating, as it grew higher. Here, at its midway point it was still impressive. Added to that the curve of the vegetation, he could imagine being lost.

He shook the feeling off and turned to the cub whose wet fur was matted and sticking up in patches, as she sniffed around. They had come up an old side stairwell, most likely one of several that lead up the building. After climbing to the first floor from the lobby they had found several stairways leading up, often filled with debris. On their upward travel they had criss-crossed floors and taken other stairs as the access they had been climbing was blocked or no longer there, or able to sustain weight. Now, they were standing off to the side of this botanical globe. Aeir looked off towards the centre. He squinted. He couldn't make it out, but he could have sworn. There it was again, a deep red glow, like refracted light.

Aeir whistled to the cub and as she turned to him, he pointed. Their spirits rising to see what they perceived the end of their quest to be in sight, they ran towards it.

The distance was illusory in the light; walls, ceiling, the ground and the very air, seeming to be of one substance and dimension. While no trees grew in this circular realm, jutting spires of metal, rusted and orange, feed the grasses that grew over them, the interior a green furred ball with these equally furred protrusions. And in the centre of this domed depression, stood a massive girder, shorn off by Meteor's heat at waist level, and some three metres square. Direct centre of the pillar, which in its time would have supported the entire structure, sat a glowing red orb, the colour of wine, burning with an inner fury.

Both Aeir and Kamakiel stood in awe, their gaze rooted on the object, seemingly on a pedestal before them.

"I know what that is!" Kamakiel shrieked "Its materia, but it's too big, they should be only be three centimetres across, this one's about three times that."

Aeir was shocked. He had believed that all materia had been returned to the Planet after the final elimination of Sephiroth. Yet here before him sat a materia orb, a giant materia orb.

Aeir walked to the edge of the girder and hoisted himself up and onto it, standing, bent low and cautious, he stepped forward.

Kamakiel placed her front paws onto the girder but Aeir turned back and waved her off, and slowly turning back to the orb he reached out and touched it gingerly with his fingertip.

His touch, raised a glow, deep within the orb which grew and as it did, a humming, building like the glow assaulted his ears, then as the light became so intense he had to turn his head for fear of being blinded, a sonic boom erupted, sending him flying backwards in a low arc to land some twenty metres away on the turf, the deep springy grass cushioning his fall.

"Ouch," he said as he sat up, struggling to get his breath back, as it had been knocked from him. Again he fell as Kamakiel bowled into him, in approximation of mohair covered boulder and tried to weasel her way behind him and seemingly under him at the same time. Aeir was about to yell at her but realised that the temperature had risen and something was now blocking the green light from his vision. His senses were screaming at him to pay attention to that something.

He turned to the pedestal come girder.

His jaw fell open.

Atop the girder stop one of the most frightening creatures Aeir had ever seen. The creature reeked of sulphur and seemed like the offspring of a dog, a bear, a goat and a human. Massive twisted horns protruded from its temples, sweeping back and curling forward again, a thick bristly hair covering its entire body aside from its chest. The face was a cross between said dog and said bear, a short snout with gleaming canines. The body was most definitely human, a well-muscled torso and arms which ended in hands, fingernails a rich black in colour and sharp as knives. Somewhere under its loincloth, which Aeir was loath to think about anyway, its body changed to that of a goat, its legs being what one would find on the back of a goat, the hair seemingly coarser and having a more greyish tint. The massive hooves where yellowed with age and looked like they had been shod with obsidian. The light brown hair rippled as the muscles under it moved as the demon stretched and seemed to be contemplating his environment. And this was the most frightening evidence of all; the golden pupil-less eyes of the creature seemed to flicker, like a fire burned behind them, a fire of godlike intelligence.

Aeir squeaked as Kamakiel continued her attempts to hide behind her.

Whatever the creature had as ears received the miniscule squeak and the beast turned its burning eyes to Aeir and the cub, rolling its shoulders and crouching to look at them with an inquisitive gaze.

"WHO DISTURBS MY SLUMBER? NOT YOU SURELY? WHY HAVE YOU COME TO MY HOME AND AWOKEN ME FROM MY DREAMINGS?"

Kamakiel had come out from behind Aeir as he had scrambled to get to his feet. It hadn't worked and he now had an arm around the cub's neck, trying to ground himself to something he knew was real.

"ANSWER OR YOU SHALL BECOME A WET STAIN ON MY FLOOR!"

The light danced, motes coalescing as the dust danced and the leaves moved. The radiance seemed to draw itself together and she appeared, her dress and features the same as Aeir remembered, yet now she was a creature of the woods, clothed in green as she was green herself, brilliant hues and tints. But her eyes, they were the same; although how Aeir knew he was unsure as she had materialized between them and the beast.

"Enough Ifrit, it is time for you to return to where you belong."

"CETRA YOU HAVE NO PLACE HERE. BEGONE!"

"Not until you listen to reason. You need to return to the Lifestream."

"NEVER, I AM A GOD, WHY SHOULD I CEASE TO BE?"

"Did I cease to be?"

"ENOUGH OF YOUR INNANE CHATTER. LEAVE!"

"No."

The creature, Ifrit she had called it, seemed to be getting filled with anger exponentially as the conversation continued, flames licking from nowhere off its body and the rumbling in its throat increasing. The grass blackened where it stood, curling and combusting to leave bare stone and dirt which then, itself, blackened. Until Aeris' final reply, whereupon the creature conjured a ball of fire in its hand and hurled it sidelong at the green apparition before itself.

Aeir stood shakily, adrenaline coursing through his veins as he unstraped Ultima and the spirit form dispersed, the fireball coming like a comet, trained on Aeir and Kamakiel.

"Oh crap," he muttered

--

Time seemed to slow down as the fireball; the concentration of the Ifrit's rage came at the pair.

"You can say that again."

"Oh crap," he muttered.

--

Disclaimers

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Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children, its characters, likeness and indicia are copyright of Sony and Square-Enix.

If any of this information is wrong, my most humble apologies. No copyright infringement is intended, this is merely a work of fan fiction. I am in no way affiliated to any of these companies and people and what not. Thanks for reading.

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Terms Of Reference & Authors Note

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The name of the main character, Aeir, is based on Aeris and is also derived from the name of the family of Higher God's in Norse Mythology. A few of the terms were previously used in the game and yet others are deviations on those that seemed to fit. These terms are listed below with there meanings in parenthesis. The single reference to Zack and Aeris Strife is the fact that these two individuals were the first children (twins) of Cloud and Tifa.

Final Prayer (Holy Materia, the embodiment of hope); Dance of the Heavens (the motion of celestial bodies, or stars, astrological connotations); Song of the Planet (the planets call, the movement of the Lifestream); Bringer, One Winged Angel (Sephiroth); She, The Savior, The Bearer of the Prayer (Aeris Gainsborough); Fall of Mako (The collapse of Shinra and the cease of Mako reliance); Threat (The Weapons and the chance the Planet could call upon them again to protect itself); Those Chosen by the Planet (the nine characters from the game).

Had to add that bit about Advent Children and Sin-Bahamut. Originally this fic was written before the movie came out; inspired by the ending FMV that coincidentally enough is what starts Advent Children.

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Prologue - Written (finished) 13th July 2000. Compiled 3rd October 2000. Re-edited 14th October 2001. Part One - Written (finished) 3rd to 6th November 2000. Compiled 6th November 2000. Part Two - Written (finished) Mid November to 29th December 2000. Compiled 29th December 2000.

REVERSIONED 7th July 2008

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By Nicholas Clark (Warriorsong)


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